ATLANTA - The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a new hearing for death row inmate Troy Davis, giving the condemned killer a chance to present evidence his lawyers say could clear him in the murder of an off-duty police officer almost 20 years ago.

The court told a federal judge to hold a hearing to decide whether evidence "that could not have been obtained at the time of trial" could establish Davis' innocence. His case has become a rallying cry for death penalty opponents.

A Georgia Land Conservation Program project in Long and McIntosh counties to protect several miles of land along to the Altamaha River, an ancient forest containing champion trees, and rare and endangered species, was announced recently.

ATLANTA - Water use in north Georgia has risen slightly since the state relaxed strict outdoor water restrictions put in place amid a historic drought - but remains far below the water use levels of two years ago - encouraging officials seeking to prove Georgia residents are not "water pigs."

The figures released Wednesday are the first snapshot since state officials lifted the restrictions last month and are considered an important test for a state locked in a legal battle with Alabama and Florida over federal water rights.

AUSTIN, Texas - An Austin woman found shot to death had been notified that her son was absent without leave from a Georgia base, even though he told her he was on leave.

Pvt. Travis Wayne Baczewski (buh-SHOO'-skee) of Austin is charged with capital murder for killing his mother, 54-year-old Violetta Baczewski. He remained in the Travis County Jail on Thursday on $1.1 million bail. Electronic court records did not indicate that he had an attorney.

In a letter to company CEO David Ratcliffe Wednesday, Riley said he was surprised to learn that the head of Southern subsidiary Georgia Power was leading a Georgia "impact team" formed by Gov. Sonny Perdue to work on the state's strategy in the dispute, including lobbying Congress.

ATLANTA - A bankruptcy lawyer is fighting to get control of $1 million that the state's top educator won on a game show and planned to give to schools for deaf and blind students.

Georgia Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox had announced she was giving the money she received from her August appearance on Fox's "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" to three public schools for the deaf and blind.

ATLANTA - Georgia's tax collections plummeted sharply again in June, leaving the state's bank account more than $1.9 billion below where it stood this time last year and forcing Gov. Sonny Perdue to dip even deeper into dwindling reserve funds.

Articles by Section - State, National

Poverty is often thought of as something that strikes kids in places like Africa and India. And while that's true, a new study shows that poor American teens might feel the effects of poverty — like violence — as much or more than their counterparts in other places.